“My picture was of a tiny friend who was off on a solo adventure around the University grounds, as though tomorrow and her opportunity to learn couldn’t come fast enough!” Ms Lau says of her aptly captioned photo “walking towards #āpōpō”.

The theme of this year’s Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori is Te Kupu o te Wiki (The Word of the Week), with a different Māori word to be highlighted each week for 50 weeks.

#50kupumoments competition organiser Suzanne Duncan says the competition was a fun way to get people to engage with all 50 words at once – which were pre-released on the Māori Language Commission website.

More than 90 official entries and nearly 450 images were received, which Ms Duncan says far exceeding organisers’ expectations.

“We thought if we got 50-60 we would be happy. But to get 96 official entries and 449 images in total was crazy! And to have reached every division, international students, general and academic staff, and the Wellington and Christchurch campuses was just fantastic.”

The supreme award went to Physical Education Student Ngahuia Mita for a stunning photo taken onboard a Waka Haurua sailing from Rapaki to Gisborne – with the caption “Where #rangi meets the #moana” (“Where sky meets the sea”).

“The experience was hard to put into words but “Rangi” (sky) and “Moana” (sea) were the words that inspired the entry.”

The organisers thank the PVC’s of each division, Te Huka Matauraka, the staff of Te Tumu, The Office of Maori Development, Te Runanga o Otakou and the Vice-Chancellor for their support and the sponsorship of the prizes for the winners.